Thermal images of wild-type (left) and ABA-induced (right) Arabidopsis plants
On November 26, 2014 an International Workshop on Plant Water Stress Responses and Water-Use Efficiency will be held in Tokyo, hosted by the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Tokyo, the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) and the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Science (JIRCAS).
Hosts Kazuo Shinozaki (CSRS), Kazuko Yamaguchi-Shinozaki (The University of Tokyo), Kazuo Nakashima (JIRCAS) will discuss water stress signaling, the role of the plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA), and how to evaluate important traits in crops. In addition they will present research outputs concerning projects on the molecular analysis of water-stress. The sessions will focus on stomata regulation and sensing, hormone regulation and signaling, and crop stress tolerance and roots.
CSRS Director Shinozaki notes that the accumulation of carbon dioxide is recognized as a cause of global warming and drought. One important way to advance sustainable agriculture, he stresses, is by carrying out research toward breeding drought-tolerant crops. Another is to improve the efficiency of plants' water use by analyzing more precisely the regulation of the balance between plant growth and responses to water stress.
International leaders in this research field are invited. More information is available at the event's special website.